Divorce

If you are currently contemplating separation or divorce
please schedule a consultation to discuss in detail your situation
and how Mr. Marx can help affordably guide you through this difficult time. Please fill out the property table form and Vital Statistics Form and bring them with you to your scheduled meeting with Mr. Marx.

Pension law is an incredibly complicated and technical area of law that requires a specialist rather than a generalist. Mr. Marx utilizes the consultation services of Willick Law Firm, perhaps the most
expert firm in the country in the area of federal and military pensions.

Alaska Divorce Law Primer*

In Alaska, there are two different types of proceedings
that will dissolve a marriage. The first, and more affordable
option, is through an agreed upon dissolution. In a dissolution,
the parties must agree on all property related and child custody issues,
and file a single petition with the court that is signed
by both spouses in front of a notary. Whatever you do, you should always have a lawyer review your dissolution agreement beforesigning, and it is even better to seek counsel to help with mediation or negotiations. After filing the petition,
the court schedules a hearing normally about 20-30 days out. The
parties then appear in court, with or without counsel. At the hearing, the judge
or "master" reviews
their agreement, takes some jurisdictional testimony from the parties
and usually enters a decree of dissolution that day, or within
a few days of the hearing, approving of the parties' agreement.

The other type of proceeding is a contested divorce. A divorce
is necessary when the parties cannot agree on all of their
property and / or child custody issues. The first party to file
a complaint for divorce becomes the plaintiff, and earns the
right to present their case first at trial. The other
spouse then must file an answer. The complaint and answer
together explain in general terms the primary issues that the parties differ on. A lawsuit
then ensues, and the parties engage in what is called "discovery" to greater
or lesser degrees (i.e. appraisals of property; medical exams; pension
evaluations / actuarials, demanding other party release or produce documents or other information, etc.) typically depending upon the risk / reward
of doing so. Ultimately, the parties either compromise and settle
before trial, with the benefit of private mediators or
judicial settlement conferences, or they litigate their issues
at a trial, before the judge.

To assist you in identifying your property related issues, keep
in mind the following. Alaska is an equitable distribution state.
This means that the court will attempt to address the net effects
of the divorce by equitably distributing the parties' marital
estate. There are three steps to equitable distribution: characterization,
valuation, and equitable division.

To characterize what is marital, you must determine what accrued to the marriage
(from day one through date of separation) both on the positive
and negative side of the marital ledger, except gifts and inheritance.
There are other exceptions, but generally, what you acquire
before marriage, and after separation is your separate property
and will not be divied up in the divorce. The separation date can
either be agreed upon or is the date the parties effectively unraveled
their financial affairs.

Generally, valuation of marital property is based upon fair market value
as close to the date of divorce as possible (agreement or divorce
trial date). This means garage sale or Ebay values govern
as opposed to replacement value.

Equitable division consists of deciding who gets
what. It is based upon a number of statutory
considerations that look at the relative age of the parties, length
of the marriage, relative health, access to health insurance, relative
education and financial opportunity, among other things. The court
starts with a presumption that a 50-50 split is equitable and then
will vary from an even split if one party is disadvantaged on balance,
looking at all the statutory factors. A 70-30 split is nearing the
upper end of what the court will generally entertain.

If the court finds the property division is inadequate to address the net
effects of the divorce, then it will entertain an award
of alimony or spousal support. Such an award must be necessary and
just, and there is an abundance of caselaw on finer points surrouding
this issue, but generally alimony is limited to a year or two in duration,
and is always subject to modification when circumstances change.

Law Office of Brandon C. Marx

*This primer is not intended as legal advice and is provided
for general background purposes only.

The Sitka, Alaska, Law Office of Brandon C. Marx, represents clients primarily in Southeast Alaska, clients in Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Angoon, Craig, Prince of Wales, Port Alexander, Kake, Gustavus, Haines, Skagway, Elfin Cove and surrounding areas. Mr. Marx has also represented clients throughout the rest of the State of Alaska, in communities such as Anchorage, Fairbanks, Shishmaref, Fort Yukon, and Bethel.